Sir, – Your guide to college life in Ireland (August 13th) details the realities of student life and includes "what's hot" and "what's not" for a number of university campuses.
For DCU the author unfortunately notes in the latter category, that one would “have conquered Everest sooner” than walk to the library. I can only deduce that he is referring to the O’Reilly Library on the Glasnevin campus, one of two library buildings in DCU, and only 500 metres from the Helix venue listed under the “what’s hot” category.
Although DCU is a multi-campus university, he makes no reference to the Cregan library at DCU St Patrick’s which looks out onto Drumcondra in the heart of the village, and may be reached in a matter of minutes from the adjacent university buildings and the local neighbourhood.
In both locations, DCU Library offers a wide variety of services including individual and shared study spaces, loans, research and information support, subject guides, orientation and induction, training sessions and consultations. Furthermore, our comprehensive range of electronic subscriptions means many students and researchers need never directly visit a physical library building to avail of our online resources. Additionally, the availability of such resources supports DCU Connect, a national leader in remote learning.
I and my colleagues in both the O Reilly and Cregan libraries look forward to welcoming those returning students and those for whom DCU will be the first step on their university journey, and can confirm and reassure them, that unlike Everest, we are much closer and more accessible than they may realise. – Yours, etc,
JOHN McDONOUGH,
University Librarian
Dublin City University,
Dublin.